Stashing Cash Over the Border

Apparently, some people are still concerned about the stability of U.S. banks. In a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, cable titan John Malone, for one, noted that his wife had pulled all of her money out of American financial institutions and parked it in Australia and Canada.

“She wants to have a place to go if things blow up here,” he told the paper in an interview. “Canada has a lot more fiscal and bank responsibility than most places in the world and lots of natural resources. We have a retreat that’s right on the Quebec border. We own 18 miles on the border, so we can cross. Any time we want to, we can get away. It would probably be illegal, but we could go. Actually, our snowmobile trail goes right on the border.”

So far this year, the FDIC has seized about 100 banks. Maybe she’s on to something.

A Cool, Free Way to Figure Out a Business Idea’s Potential

Every day, it gets cheaper and easier to start a business. Want to put up a website? Try the free, open source WordPress platform. Need to sell some stuff? There are free or cheap e-commerce engines that manage the front end of the process. Even fulfillment can be automated, depending on what you’re peddling. And advertising is a plug-in from Google.

But what doesn’t get easier despite disruptive technology is putting together a viable business idea and creating a solid plan for executing on it. I’m not familiar with them, but have no doubt there are websites that aim to automate the business-idea process. I can’t imagine the businesses created this way will last very long or get very big.

The good news is that even if there’s no Web shortcut for good ideas, there’s now a free option that takes you through the rigorous process, holding your hand every step of the way, and forcing you to work out your ideas, through tutorials and worksheets. Most times, these tools are not free, and are usually very expensive…

A Personal Branding Roadmap That Just May Work

We’ve been thinking a lot about “personal branding” here at Recessionwire. In an economy where there are more people looking than jobs—and it’s expected to stay that way for years, if forever—we’ve all got to take things into our own hands a bit more. Do what we can to stand out, and create a roadmap and profile for the careers we want. “Personal branding” is a big part of that.

Of course, it’s something that seems to make more sense for those who have a track record to shape into a story behind a personal brand. But even college students and grads should be thinking about how to position themselves and create their own platform, whether it’s to get a full-time job or chart an alternative path through starting a business or consulting or freelance work.

PricewaterhouseCoopers is doing a good job of addressing this issue, with a program called “Personal Branding Week.” It’s online and it’s free. There are instructive tips and accompanying worksheets that are really quite brilliant. But even though PwC says it’s focusing on students and grads, everyone should spend some time going through this process…

AA for Recession Victims

“Hi, my name is X, and I’ve been feeling a little bit screwed by the economy.”

“Hello, X.”

It’s not likely that such a formal introduction will take place when a support group for recession victim gathers this Thursday at 9 p.m. at the Odessa Cafe in Manhattan. But the group, a Meetup titled “WTF Now?“, does take its inspiration from other aspects of Alcoholics Anonymous, according to organizer Chrissy Rossettie.

“My boyfriend goes to AA and gets a lot out of it,” she says. “So I thought, ‘Why not have a support group for unemployed New Yorkers?’ If nothing else, I’m hoping that it will provide a forum for people to vent and blow off steam, and maybe feel a little less alone and lost.”…

11 Easy Steps to Relocating

If Tom Joad were here today (and real), he might just sit tight in his home state of Oklahoma.

That’s because, despite record high unemployment and an unequal distribution of jobs across the fifty states, fewer unemployed Americans are hitting the road in search of work since World War II.

Worse: only 7.3% of job seekers relocated for work in the fourth quarter of 2009, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

Perhaps employers just aren’t hiring across state lines, but some people have it tough—saddled with debt, or a home that they can’t sell. Who’s got the cash for a big move into the unknown?…

The Recession Will End… In Years, Not Months

Most Americans think we’ll be in recession for two more years. According to a new poll from Gallop/USA Today, just as many people think the recession will end in a year as do those who think it will end in five years, with the rest of the respondents falling in the middle.

Could such gloom just be the winter blues? Perhaps, but the findings are similar to those from July:

When asked in an open-ended question how long they expect it to be before the economy starts to recover, 30% now say five years or more, up from 19% in February but similar to the 28% who said so in December. Overall, 68% of Americans now expect it to take two years or more before the economy starts to recover, little changed from 71% in February. One in four (27%) now expect it to take less than two years, about the same as the 24% in February who said this.

…

Unemployment is in the Attitude

I’m unemployed, sort of. I was laid off from my job about a year ago. Now, I’m self-employed, which sometimes feels like unemployed: having to get my own health insurance, scrap together my own income from freelance projects, create my own “office” at home or at coffee shops. But most of all, it’s outlook and attitude that makes all the difference.

Some folks who have been laid off are bitter towards their former employer, their friends, the world at dumping them out on the street. I don’t blame them for their frustrations. It ain’t easy.

But you don’t turn around an undesirable situation with grumbling, passive aggression, a sense of entitlement, bullying or any other behaviors that, face it, don’t make you feel all that great. (At least, not for more than a few minutes.) Worse, it comes across loud and clear, and makes you even more undesirable…

WIFT?

The best thing you can do if you’re looking for a job is to network and get any meeting you can. But as Phil Rosenberg points out on reCareered, it’s not all about you:

Chances are your new contact is a busy person who doesn’t have much spare time on their hands. You as a job seeker have a very real reason you want to have coffee – you want their help in finding a job at their company (What’s in it for me – WIFM). But what reason do you give your contact? What’s in it for them (WIFT)?

Exactly—WIFT?

Don’t forget that to be effective in your networking, you need to bring something to the table as well. What can you offer the other person? Do you have information or other contacts that might be valuable to them? Your meeting may simply be an act of generosity on their part, or it may serve their own goals around helping people. In other cases, you can help build your value—a key factor in getting closer to a job—by being a resource to them. Just be careful of coming across too sleazy. The scratch-my-back tack can get a little icky if you overdo it…

Ditching Your Home

It sounds so tempting: Throwing in the towel and saying goodbye to those overwhelming monthly mortgage payments and your underwater home. Starting anew with a home that’s more modestly priced (and valued) and a mortgage you can actually afford. It can seem like a pipe dream.

It isn’t, and it’s not entirely unreasonable to walk away from your home and mortgage. Enough people have weighed in on why it may make sense for you, and even urging you to take this option.

You Walk Away is one of them. The company’s daily blog is a lively and supportive read aimed at helping you become more comfortable with the idea. As long ago as December 2007, when the recession officially kicked off, You Walk Away was beating the drum for people to ditch their homes and default on their mortgages. The cheerful blog walks you through why it’s okay to walk away from your mortgage: “The lender did not loan you the money without intent to profit. The lender DID risk their money in order to make a profit. They created the terms. They should live with the terms they created.” YWA warns about the possible consequences of walking away: damaged credit for years; the anguish of having your home foreclosed upon; the judgment of others; wage garnishment…

Screwed: 1,450 in Iowa

A daily review of the employment fallout around the country and the world.

Today’s Total: 2,701

The closing of a hog plant in Iowa owned by Smithfield Foods will mean the loss of 1,450 jobs. … Columbus, Ga.-based TSYS plans to lay off 400 workers worldwide. … Some 338 layoffs are rolling out across the San Francisco Municipal Transit Authority, beginning this week. … Sitel will cut 250 workers at its Starkville, Miss., location. … Stanley Furniture Co. in Martinsville, Va., plans to lay off 200 employees. … One-third of its staff, about 50 employees, will be let go from Honolulu department store Shirokiya. … Luzerne County, Penn., will lay off 13 employees. … The Commerical Appeal newspaper in Memphis, Tenn., will cut 9 positions. …